Clasp.



No. 633,697. v Patented Sept. 26, |899.

A.-MAY.ER.

(Application led Feb. 9, 1899.)

(No Model.)

mi mums Pcrsns w. Primo-uma., wamnamu. n. c.

UNrTnn STATES PATENT Erica.

ABRAHAM MAYER, OF S'l. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 633,697, dated September 26, 1899.

Application filed February 9, 1899. Serial No. 705,073.

To @ZZ whom it 71u01/ concern:

13e it known that LABRAHAM MAYER,a citizen of theUnited States, residingat St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clasps, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference heilig had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in fastening-clasps; and it consists in the novel arrangement and combination of parts more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is an elevation of a legging having my clasp applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a middle longitudinal section of the clasp in its locked position, the section being taken online 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3is atop plan view of the male member of the clasp. Fig. 4C is a top plan view of the female member. Fig. 5 isa bottom plan View of the male member. Fig. (i is a bottom plan view of the female member. Fig. 7 is a top plan of a modi` fied form of male member, and Fig. S is a bottom plan ofstill anotherform of male member.

The object of my invention is to construct wearin g-apparel-such as leggings, shoes,corV

sets, mackintoshes, belts, and the like-or, in fact, to any purpose whatsoever.

A further object is to construct a clasp which will be simple, durable, reliable, and positive in action and one which can be readily locked or unlocked.

In detail the device maybe described as follows:

Referring to the drawings, l represents the male member or tongue, provided at one end with a suitable opening 2 fonthe reception of the shank of anysuitable fastener, the head 3 of which overlaps the walls of the opening when once secured to the garment. (See Fig. l.) Punchedorstampedfromthenarrowmea dial portion of the tongue along the opposite edges thereof are the laterally-deected locking-wings 4, bent substantially at right angles to the body of the tongue, the rearward edge of each wing being inclined upwardly toward the tongue, thus forming a heel, as at a' in Fig. 2, and the forward edge being rounded or convened outwardly, as at 4 in Fig. 2, for a purpose which will presently appear. The

(No model.)

forward extension or head l serves as a means for grasping and operating the same.

rihe female portion is also stamped from a single piece of metal and consists of a rear portion 5, adapted to be similarly secured to the garment by a headed fastener 3, passed through the opening 2' thereof, and of a forward portion 5,', raised above the part 5 by an offset or shoulder 6. The portion 5' is bent back downwardly and extended rearwardly toward the lower edge of the shoulder 6, thereby forming a pocket 7 between the portion 5' and its inwardly and rearwardly deiected eX- tension 5". The pocket is entered by the wings 4, as presently better apparent, through an opening 8, cut from the portion 5' and extending from a point slightly in advance of the shoulder G to a point slightly to the rear of the bend between the parts 5 and The extension 5" has cut therefrom two parallel slits on each side of the center thereof` and of a depth extending near the edge of the said extension, thereby leaving a central resilient tongue 7, whose free end is turned upward into a hook or loop to correspond with the bend between the portion 5 and its extension 5.

In coupling the male to the female portion the former is held in the inclined position shown by dotted linesin Fig. 2, with theheels of the respective wings as shown also by dotted lines. The forward end of the male portion is then depressed o1' swung toward the female, the tongue yielding sufficiently, as seen by the dotted position thereof in Fig. 2, to allow the rounded portions 4 of the wings to ride over the adjacent bounding edge of the opening S, when the wings will snap or lock to bring the convex forward portions thereof fully undersuch edge and the heels under the loop formed at the free rounded end of the tongue, and the coupling or locking will be complete, as seen in full lines in Fig. 2, it being understood that the wings bear against the tongue as the parts are being coupled.

In some cases it may be necessary or desirable to make the male of two sections hinged to one another, as seen in Fig. 7, the inner section l being directly secured to the garment or apparel.

It is apparent that the device might be altiered in slight details without departing from the spirit of my invention. For example, as seen in Fig. 8, a locking-bleek l0 can be substituted for the wings 4, the block being riveted or soldered or otherwise secured along the under surface of the male member of the clasp.

Having described my claim isl. In a Clasp, a suitable male member, a female member having an opening formed in the wall thereof, a pocket in the path of the opening, the wall of the pocket opposite the opening having eut or formed therein two parallel longitudinal slits, thereby leaving a central resilient tongue opposite the opening of said pocket, and a looking portion carried by the male inembeiand adapted to be inserted into the pocket and bear against the tongue, substantially as set forth.

2. A clasp comprising a male and female portion, a pocket carried by the female portion and having an opening leading to said pocket, the wall of the pocket opposite the opening having out or formed therein two parallel longitudinal slits thereby leaving a central resilient tongue opposite the opening of said pocket, the free end of the tongue being bent in to a loop, and a looking-piece carin Ven tion, what I 3. A clasp comprising a male member, laterally-deflected wings carried thereby, said wings having rearwardly-inclined edges or heels and forward outwardly-curved portions, a female member having a portion adapted to be secured to the garment, a forward portion separated therefrom by an oset or shoulder, an extension bent rearwardly and toward the base of the offset, thereby forming a pocket between the forward portion and its extension, the latter having eut therein two parallel longitudinal slits thereby forming a central resilient tongue, the free end of the latter being bent into a loop disposed in the path of the bend formed between the forward portion of the female member and its extension, an opening being formed in the forward portion between the offset and the free edge of the'tongue, the parts operating substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ABRAHAM MAYER.

\Vitnesses:

-EMIL STAREK,

lEoRGE L. BELFRY. 

